Lieutenant Stewart, in the book already quoted from, gives a good deal of information about the religious beliefs of the Thados. He says they recognise one all-powerful god, whom they call Pathen (Lushai Pathian), who has a wife, Nongjai. I have enquired about Pathen’s wife, but though all my informants say that it is usual to speak of Pathen Nongjai together, none could say whether Nongjai was Pathen’s wife—an equally powerful being, sharing power with Pathen—or simply another name for Pathen. Stewart also provides Pathen with a son, Thihla, but my informants all agree that the Thihla are demons of the hills, rivers, and forests—in other words exactly the same as the Huais of the Lushais. Ghumoishe, mentioned by Stewart, is the king of all these Thihla, and he has a wife, Imungshe. They are supposed to inhabit the densest forests on the highest mountain tops, and when passing through such their dread names are never mentioned. About this demon Stewart says: “By some he is said to be the illegitimate son of Pathen, but others deny the relationship, and say that he has no connection with the god whatever. The idea of making the origin of evil proceed thus from an illegitimate source is exceedingly clever.” None of my informants would venture a guess even at Ghumoishe’s parentage. Kuchom, whom Stewart gives as Ghumoishe’s wife, is nowadays, as far as I can find out, unknown, as also is Hilo, said by Stewart to be the daughter of the last-named couple and to be the goddess of poisons. The Thihla are divided into Thingbulnga, the Thihla of the big trees; Shongbulnga, of the rocks and stones; Tuikhumnga, the demons of the water, of whom Tuikhumlen is the king. These water spirits are said to be far more powerful than those of the woods or rocks, and therefore are often spoken of as Tui-pathen. They also receive a fourfold sacrifice, of a white fowl or an egg, a pig, a dog, which must not be entirely black, and a he-goat, whereas cocks or hens are considered quite good enough for the Thingbulgna or Shongbulgna.
Zomi is a female spectre, a sight of which is a sure forerunner of some dire misfortune, which can only be averted by the immediate sacrifice of a dog. Pheizam correspond to the Lāshi. Nuaijingmang is an evil spirit which lives underground.
After death the spirits of men and women, great and small, all go to Mi-thi-khua. The only advantage which the spirits of those who have slain men and beasts and given feasts obtain is that Kulsamnu does not dare to detain them, whereas she, sitting by the roadside, seizes all other poor wandering souls, and troubles them sorely unless their relatives who have gone on before come to their rescue.
I have been unable to find any traces of ancestor worship, nor is it mentioned either by Stewart or McCulloch. This is extremely curious, as the Thados attach the highest possible importance to a long pedigree and, as has been seen, nearly every other clan practise some rites to appease the dead.
Religious Rites and Sacrifices.—The Daibawl sacrifices are made as among the Lushais, but not the Khāl. The Dongel and Shit-hloh families sacrifice a sow to Sakhua, but the Haukip and Kipgen kill a mithan. This difference is said to date back to the time when the Haukip lived on the banks of the Run or Manipur river, near to Tiddim, and sacrificed a mithan to Rulpui, or the great snake. The Chhinchhuan are said to have recently adopted the Vaiphei method of propitiating Sakhua, and in consequence the Shit-hloh have ceased intermarrying with them.
Besides the sacrifice to Sakhua the Thado have a special sacrifice known as “Pathen biak na” (“speaking to Pathen”). This consists of killing a small pig in the closet at the end of the house and a white cock in front of the house. The crop, entrails, and bones are “sherh” and are placed on an oaken post in front of the house, and a thirty days’ “hrilh” is observed.
The Ai ceremonies are much the same as among the Lushais, but in that of the tiger the carrying of the porcupine is unknown. Directly a tiger is shot a bamboo skewer is hammered into its ear hole, to make sure that it is dead, and when the body is brought up to the village an egg is placed in the mouth by some female relative of the lucky hunter, who addresses the dead animal thus: “Oh! Ho! You stole that, did you? And so a peg has been driven into your ear.” She then jumps across the body from side to side and from head to tail. After this the skin may be removed. In connection with cultivation, a ceremony called “Daibun” is performed after the burning of the jhums. Seven bamboos adorned with cotton wool are placed round the jhum as an offering to the “Thihla” of the locality, who are further propitiated later on by an offering of an egg and some leaves placed on a bamboo in the middle of the jhum. This is called “Daikam.” Wanolnaunu died because she was so lazy that it was too much trouble to live, so if any of her signs are found in a new jhum, a sacrifice has to be performed to avoid a failure of the crops. A tree which has two trunks which unite some feet above the ground is said to represent her fingers, and a red fowl must be sacrificed and the tree dug up by the roots. A spring is said to be her tears, and a goat must be sacrificed. If a wallow is found a pig must be offered. If a woman is not blessed with offspring within the usual time of the marriage there are three methods of procedure:—The woman may go to her father’s house, and he will kill a cock and they will drink zu together, after which he ties a string round her neck. If this is not successful she may go to her husband’s eldest brother or cousin, and he will repeat the performance. If there is still no result the thempu is called in and kills a black hen inside the house, and its flesh, mixed with stones and other ingredients, is compounded by him into a medicine which the poor woman desirous of offspring has to eat. On the occasion of the birth of a child the mother may not leave her house for five days in case of a son and three in case of a daughter. When these periods have expired she goes to her father’s house and takes a fowl or a pig, according to her means. This is called “Nau-bil-vu.” The mother also gives her father or sometimes her mother a cloth on the occasion of the birth of a child, and the recipient kills a pig in honour of the occasion. In case of a child getting sick the thempu sacrifices a fowl, called “Ar-kang-tha.”
The marriage ceremonies of the Thados are described by both McCulloch and Stewart, and do not seem to have changed at all during the 55 years that have elapsed since their accounts were written. Neither account, however, is quite complete. The bridegroom, accompanied by his friends, taking with them at any rate a portion of the sum to be paid for the bride, go to the village where the girl lives, and for three days the young men of the village wrestle with them. On arrival they are met with showers of filth from the children of the village. The girl’s parents have to give a pig or a mithan and much zu to celebrate the occasion. At the conclusion of the feast the bride sets out for her future home dressed in her best and wearing a gong on her head. The actual marriage ceremony takes place in the house of the father of the bridegroom and consists of the thempu killing a fowl, feathers from the right wing being placed in the hair of the young couple. They then drink out of the same cup of zu, and the thempu, muttering charms, binds a cotton thread round their necks, which must be worn till it falls off from old age.
The thempu then presents each with a comb. Only very near relatives may use the same comb. Stewart says husband and wife may share a comb, but my information is that uterine brothers and sisters may do so. A Lushai correspondent writes that among them the use of another man’s comb may cause a headache, and that a person of a higher clan would be contaminated if he used the comb of a member of a lower one. To see whether the union will prove harmonious the thempu takes a hair from the head of each and moistens them in zu and then twists them together. If the hairs remain twisted all will go smoothly, but should they fly apart many bickerings and disputes are to be expected. The parents of the bridegroom give a feast to all concerned, and this completes the ceremony, but the young couple do not at once commence sleeping together. If they have not been previously acquainted they often sleep apart for a month, and for lesser periods according to the degree of their acquaintance.
Eligible brides are even now carried off and married against the wishes of their parents, by ardent lovers belonging to powerful families.